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Falling to pieces

AN ASSOCIATION representing 150 contract cleaning companies is
on the verge of dumping Australian Workplace Agreements because
they do not pass the Government’s fairness test.

The Australian Cleaning Contractors Association says the
Government’s workplace relations system has become “farcical” and
“pointless” and it is now considering returning to the award system
or enterprise agreements.

“We had an AWA system in place that was getting rid of all the
problems and complexities of awards, and now it’s more complex and
confusing,” said the association’s executive director, John
Laws.

After the fairness test was introduced in May the association
was told to either pay its workers another 66 cents an hour or
alter the AWA so it reflects the award pay rates and conditions
relevant to each state.

“Quite simply, the union movement scared the Government. They
have made it so complex it’s just ridiculous,” Mr Laws said. “We
tried to remove some of the more onerous conditions and provide [an
AWA] which was readily understood, was standard throughout the
country, and which would give all sides an incentive to get on with
it.

Yes, it’s incredibly complex to add 66 cents per hour to employee wages. What was it you wanted to do instead, Mr Laws?

Mr Laws said the AWAs offered to cleaners gave “the same rates
of pay, but we reduced weekend penalty rates to what we believed
was more sensible”.

Ah, much less complex.

And the Government has ended up in a situation where it is defending its legislation from business rather than having a clear fight with the unions:

The Minister for Workplace Relations, Joe Hockey, offered Mr
Laws no sympathy, saying his complaint showed that the fairness
test worked. “I am very pleased the fairness test and the Workplace
Authority are helping to ensure that cleaners are paid properly.
The law is very simple – employers must compensate workers if they
take away penalty rates.”

This puts them between a rock and a hard place. The ACTU campaign had built up strong public concern about the WorkChoices system, and forced them into making changes to make it look fair. Now, the employer groups are bent out of shape because those changes apparently cut away the advantages they had gained from the new system.

It’s too late to change anything before the election, but even if they do retain power I can’t see how they can maintain this position through another term.